Conventional elevator apparatuses in which first and second hoisting machines are disposed in an upper portion of a hoistway have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 7-117957 (Gazette), for example. Each of the hoisting machines has a drive sheave, and a car and a counterweight are suspended inside the hoistway by main ropes wound around these drive sheaves.
In conventional elevator apparatuses such as that described above, the hoisting machines are reduced in size by using two hoisting machines, and installation space for the apparatus as a whole is made compact by disposing the reduced hoisting machines in an upper portion inside the hoistway, but it is desirable for the installation space to be made even more compact by disposing the hoisting machines, the counterweight, etc., even more efficiently.